Foreign investment money could start slipping away from Costa Rica in coming months as a result of corruption cases that have unfolded recently, the local League of Private Enterprise Chambers and Associations (UCCAEP is the Spanish acronym) warned this week. One of the sectors that could take a direct hit from rampant corruption in the country is tourism. As we speak, Costa Rican hotels are badly needing a figure in the neighborhood of $2 to $2.5 billion to get a new lease on life.

In a working document handed in to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Cuba has lashed out at the 44-year-old U.S. trade embargo for causing millions of dollars in losses to the island nation´s aviation industry in terms of costs and squandered opportunities. According to Havana, "the U.S. monopoly on the making of commercial aircraft and their spare parts, components and technology, including factories in Europe, forces Cuban airlines to pay huge lump sums of money to buy their jetliners in more expensive markets."

Sol Meliá’s Cuba Division announced its intention to shell out $12 million in an effort to refurbish and improve the hotels the Spain-based company runs on Cuban soil. The announcement was made by the hotel chain’s Marketing & Sales Manager, Gabriel Garcia, who also explained that the investment will allow the company to keep its 21 hotels and resorts on the island nation up and running. In all, Sol Meliá manages as many as 8,479 rooms and 16,878 beds.

Forest caretakers on the Galapagos Islands have been walking the picket lines for the past two weeks and have caused $6 million in losses for the Ecuadorian government up to now, said Roque Sevilla, president of the Tourism Chamber in the province of Pichincha. Mr. Sevilla, who´s linked to several environmental groups, said tour operators have been hit harder than any other sector by the third strike staged by forest caretakers this year.

Foreign tourists that visited Brazil during the first eight months of the ongoing year spent little more than $2.1 billion, up 36.4 percent from the same period of time in 2003. According to statistics provided by the country´s Central Bank, the amount of money spent by foreign travelers in the country and the number of Brazilians traveling overseas combine for a $355 million surplus for the local leisure industry, compared to $87 million the South American nation came in for in the first eight months of last year. In 2003, Brazil welcomed 4.1 million foreign tourists that shelled out some $3.4 billion in all.

Marriott Hotels is planning to build a new lodging facility in the Nicaraguan Pacific coast. The 250-room establishment with an in-house casino will take an initial investment of $50 million. Sources close to the project told Caribbean News Digital that $5 million have already been poured into the new resort, most of it for groundbreaking works. The new colonial-style hotel will be located in the municipality of Villa El Carmen, some 22 miles northwest of Managua.